Last Monday I took my first lesson in archery, that is, shooting arrows with a bow.ย Some years ago I would have tried to do it myself: go buy a bow andย some arrows, find a place to shoot and shoot. But I am really glad Iย havenโt done that and instead, went to Otendorโs Parlemo branch.ย Thereโs so much to learn first. On one side thereโs a lot of technique.ย A lot. I wouldnโt have guessed a 10% of what Iโve been taught in oneย lesson.
I wouldnโt have know basic things, like how to assembly andย disassembly the bow. I wouldnโt have know if I have to shoot with myย left or right hand (well, I donโt know that yet, but more on thatย latter). But thereโs more than knowledge. Being able to learn with weakย bows makes it easier to learn while in the end, knowing myself, Iโllย pick the strongest I can stand.
To decide on what side to use to shoot (that is, what hand holds theย string) you have to find out what eye you use, not on what hand is moreย skilled. To find that they have a simple test. Hold up your hands inย front of you making a triangle with your thumbs as the base and yourย index fingers as the size but make it very small. Looking through itย focus at something far away and then move your hands towards your headย watching the spot. The hands will end around one eye, if it is yourย right eye, your are โright-handedโ (or should I say right-eyed?),ย otherwise, youโll hold the string with your left hand.
Iโve spent countless hours in the boringness of the school playingย with my eyes and hands (they could take my calculator, books, paper andย pencil away, but not my eyes and hands). I played a l
ot with the focusย and finding out how stereo-vision works, which means it is impossibleย for me to do the test without making it conscious and picking one eyeย to use. And I can pick any with the same easiness. Maybe I can shootย with both hands. In the end, after doing a lot of exercises with myย left hand I picked my right hand because I felt more comfortable. Iย still would like to try shooting with the other side to see how itย feels.
I am really proud of what I achieved in one lesson. In the two-shootย they let you try before committing to the class I managed to โmake anย Xโ, that is, shoot in the center of the target, the highest of theย score. Of course, I wasnโt more than 4 meters or so from the target.
And then, when doing more shooting, I managed to not spread theย arrows. They tell me it is the most important thing. It makes sense, ifย you put all the arrows 10 cm over the target, youโll just have to aimย lower. If you spread them all over, youโll have to improve your aiming,ย which is harder. This earned me the right to use three arrows insteadย of two. Something they tell me is not common in the first class.
I am really proud and honestly: I can hardly wait for the nextย lesson on Friday. After such a good start I am expecting the nextย lesson to be a miserably and ugly failure where my beginnerโs luck willย wear off and Iโll have to start working hard. And thereโs still a lotย to learn and I love learning.
โFundamentally the archer aims at himself.
โZen and the Art of Archery
Credit: the photos were taken by the instructor Daniel Golod.
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